PAT CAPUTO: Super Bowl, despite 49ers' prowess, will prove to be Ravens' Time WITH VIDEO

When I was a kid, I knew the Minnesota Vikings were going to lose. As I reached adulthood, I knew the San Francisco 49ers were going to win.

It was like there was a law. If the Dallas Cowboys or the Pittsburgh Steelers were in the Super Bowl, they were going to be hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Well, unless they happened to play each other.

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The Buffalo Bills? The Denver Broncos, at least pre-Mike Shanahan and before changing uniforms? They were going to lose.

There was a long period the NFC did nothing but win (13 straight times from 1985-97). There was a extended span the NFC mostly lost (8-of-11 years from 1998-2009).

There was a time the Super Bowl was all about the parties and TV commercials. The game was usually pretty boring. That, thankfully, has changed.

Most years, the past decade-plus, your chances of picking the Super Bowl winner have been as good as predicting a coin flip. And a couple times, most notably when the underdog New York Giants have matched up with the New England Patriots, the longshot has come in.

This year's Super Bowl falls into the most recent pattern. While the oddsmakers have the 49ers a slight favorite over the Baltimore Ravens, it is the classic pick 'em game.

My gut feeling is the Ravens will win. The 49ers are a terrific team. On paper, top-to-bottom, they are better than the Ravens. The 49ers' defense is fantastic. Aldon Smith, Justin Smith, Patrick Wills, Dashon Goldson, Navarro Bowman, Ahmad Brooks, Carlos

Rogers - its features one great player after another. On offense, Colin Kaepernick and Michael Crabtree will be great players for years to come.

On the other hand, it's as if the Ravens are identified by Ray Lewis only. This isn't meant to besmirch Lewis - he is arguably the greatest inside linebacker of all time. But it's difficult to think of Lewis and not think of a murder charge more than the Ravens Super Bowl triumph following the 2000 season. Even taking that, and putting it aside, the cartoon-like persona Lewis currently carries is either humorous (the "Saturday Night Live" parody of him last week was classically funny) or annoying - depending on your point of view.

The Ravens story goes far beyond Lewis, though.

Since the '98 season, the Ravens have had only three losing records. They have had more than twice that many years finishing with double digits in victories. Safety Ed Reed will join Lewis in the Hall of Fame some day. Nose tackle Haloti Ngata and linebacker Terrell Suggs might, too.

Talk about great draft picks - running back Ray Rice was a tremendous one in the second round a few years ago. It is turning out Joe Flacco is a so-called "franchise" quarterback after all. The Ravens pretty much have done everything right as an organization. They generally don't get their due as a powerhouse franchise, but that will change if they win this Super Bowl.

The modus operandi of Super Bowl champs in recent years is to struggle late in the regular season, but come on like gangbusters in the playoffs. It happened with the Green Bay Packers two years ago, and again with the Giants last season. The Ravens lost four of their final five regular season games. Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was fired during the season. Yet, here they are.

They are like the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring - winning the title as an eighth and last seed. They are like the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals, who faced elimination constantly - and won it all in Major League Baseball. Or the San Francisco Giants, who appeared about to be knocked out of the baseball playoffs in the National League divisional and championship sets in the fall, but still won the World Series.

The 49ers are formidable, but here's to picking the upset. Why?

Because the Ravens have the look of a team of destiny.

And lately, that has been the ruler of professional sports, Super Bowl included.